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Ryan Twentyman of Whitrigg Hall Farm, near Torpenhow, Cumbria, said the farm presumed it had been loose dogs which attacked his stock after his neighbour spotted a walker with two dogs off the lead and away from the public bridle paths.

He said the ordeal had amounted to a loss of about £2,000 from vets bills and a loss of stock.

“Definitely one – but we think two or three – dogs chased a batch of young stirks around a field until they pinned them in a corner and forced them over two large barbed wire fences,” Mr Twentyman said.

“The animal that died had its stomach ripped open from the barbed wire before being mauled by the dogs.

Several other animals required immediate veterinary care to be stitched up and treated with antibiotics, Mr Twetnyman added.

While he was unaware of the breed, he said the bite marks reflected what they thought must have been large dogs.

Signs

Mr Twentyman said: “We have now put signs up around both of our farms on all the public bridle path gates and the field next to the road warning all dog owners that any dogs caught attacking livestock will be shot.”

The incident has since been shared on Facebook more than 1,000 times.

“We are really wanting to push this to put a stop to dog attacks countrywide,” Mr Twentyman said.

“The more people that see it, the more chance there is on clamping down on the whole situation.”

Getting our Take the Lead signs

We have 1,000s of livestock worrying signs which you can nail to gateposts or fenceposts near footpaths to highlight the problem to walkers.